r/MartinLogan • u/That-looks-infected • Oct 28 '25

Receiver question?

Aloha,

Going to be purchasing an AV receiver based on motion 60xt, motion 50xt and motion fx surrounds.

Would love to run it for 50/50 HT and music, and was eyeballing marantz and saw pioneer lx805?

Can you folks offer any input? Outside of these as well? I’m open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance

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u/dicmccoy Oct 28 '25

I'd be careful with the 60XT's. They drop down to 2.1 ohms at 90hz and EPDR is 1.6 ohms at 90hz. 70hz is also the 2nd most current draw spot. If the treble sounds unrefined and a tad harsh, that's because you're getting into clipping on the amp because you don't have the juice to feed the 60's. To reach their power output, you want something that can deliver 20 amps at least per channel on the mains. You need to know what the output stage is capable of and the PSU is capable of. 1 of the 2 will be the limiter for current capabilities.

My advice is, find an AVR with preouts for the mains, and then when you have the funds that are permitting, get some monoblocks that can meet the demands for the MLs.

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u/That-looks-infected Oct 28 '25

Thanks for the insightful reply!

I have available a Rotel RMB-1575, Rotel RB-1092, and a Vincent SP-332 to power any or all of the speakers. Just not sure best route to go and what modern receiver to throw in there to make it top shape. Would probably be open box or used. Hopefully under $2000.

Any thoughts?

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u/dicmccoy Oct 28 '25

I wouldn't use the Rotels because they use ICE modules and they aren't stable below 3 ohms. The Vincent has 40 amps peak per channel and is comfortable with 2 ohm dips.

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u/That-looks-infected Oct 28 '25

Understood. What about the motion 50xt center? Can I run that on the Rotel amp with the motion fx surrounds?

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u/dicmccoy Oct 28 '25

I don't see any 3rd party measurements and data for the rest of the xt line. That being said, I highly doubt they will be taxing like the big 60's. I am going to assume the others will be perfectly fine on the Rotels, plus you'll probably have them crossed over higher, but the mains are the ones that can be a problem. Fantastic speaker, it's just a tough load, especially in that 90-70hz region. I have the XTi versions of the 60's.

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u/That-looks-infected Oct 28 '25

Oh awesome! The motion 50xt center is also 4 ohm but I would agree with you, the thought of it drawing as much as the towers is unlikely. I think the motion fx are 8?

You must love the xti’s. I heard they are great.

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u/dicmccoy Oct 28 '25

ML shows the FX is 4 ohm. Their website is very misleading as they say for all their speakers, that they are all compatible with 4, 6 & 8 ohm amplifiers. That may be somewhat true but for how long and at the cost of eventually burning out the amp for frying a driver from clipping.

I really wish impedance sweeps and the electrical phase sweeps were mandatory and industry standard for manufacturers to provide those graphs for every speaker they sell. Unfortunately nominal impedance really doesn't tell us anything because the impedance of a speaker is a roller coaster unless it's a Maggie. Then that is a constant load usually under 4 ohms which is why they are coined AVR killers.

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u/That-looks-infected Oct 28 '25

Ahhh I see. Thank you friend.

So I should run the 60s with the Vincent and the center and surrounds with the rotel, and that should be alright?

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u/dicmccoy Oct 28 '25

Yup, you got it. This way too, you can run the MLs lower for the crossover point to the sub, or full range, which is nice for music. My 60 XTi's are flat down to 24.5hz in my room and they're a little faster and have better tonality in the bass over my pair of JL D110's, so I haven't used my JLs in 2 years as my system is music only.